Chapel Hill, South Gwinnett pick up 'Dream Challenge' wins

North Atlanta's Benjamin Howery #23 attempts to penetrate Chapel Hill defense

On Monday, the annual 'Dream Challenge Showcase' tipped off with early action as the Chapel Panthers took on the North Atlanta Warriors in a non-region matchup as both teams entered the day with two straight wins. After the tip, the Panthers would open the first quarter outscoring the Warriors 11-7, but North Atlanta would respond in the second quarter by outscoring Chapel Hill 16-10 to take a 23-21 lead into the locker room at halftime.

In the third quarter, the Panthers would open the period on a 5-0 run to regain the lead as they went up 26-23, however, North Atlanta would have the last say of the period as they closed out with a 14- 8 run from there to take a 37-34 lead into the fourth quarter. But in the final period of play, the Panthers would regain the lead thanks to outscoring the Warriors 12-7, taking a 46-44 lead and closing out with the 54-49 win.

"Trying to put plays together, defensively trying get stops consecutively and offensively, we're getting a little bit better running our stuff and looking at our options," Chapel Hill head coach Mike Artis said of his players and their performance of late as Monday's win was their ninth in their last 10 games "We're starting to put the pieces to the puzzle together and hopefully we make a run towards the region tournament and state tournament," Artis said.

In the second matchup of the day, the defending GHSA 2A state champions, B.E.S.T. Academy found themselves down early in the first quarter as South Gwinnett opened up on a 17-3 run, but the Eagles battled back as they outscored the Comets 19-16 to take a 22-21 lead, with B.E.S.T.'s Xion Evans scoring 13 of his 30 points in the quarter. However, South Gwinnett would regain the lead as they closed out the period on 4-0 run, taking a 25-22 lead into the second quarter.

Once back in front, the Comets would build on their lead as they outscored the Eagles 16-14 in the second quarter to take a 41-36 lead into the locker room at halftime. In the third quarter, the Comets would get a huge lift from freshman, Jacob Reid, who would score nine of his 13 points in the period to help South Gwinnett outscore B.E.S.T. Academy 20-8 in the period to take a 61-44 lead in route to a 69-60 win.

"I like how we started. We started with a big lead. We gave the lead up, still have some of the bad habits with a younger group, but I like that we continue to learn and get better everyday," South Gwinnett head coach, Qaree Howard said of his team's efforts in withstanding B.E.S.T. Academy's surges throughout the game. "It was a lot about effort," Howard said of his player's and the resilience they showed.